Macronutrients – Carbohydrates

18:42Eugene Madondo
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Carbohydrates are used as an energy source by the body. They
are easily converted into glucose, more easily useable by the body than if the
body were to use fats or protein as energy.

Types of Carbs

There are two types of carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates
and simple carbohydrates. Your complex carbohydrates are foods commonly
referred to as starchy foods such as brown rice, pasta, potatoes, corn,
cereals, flour etc. Simple carbohydrates on the other hand are what is commonly
referred to as sugars, examples of these are fruits and veggies, cakes, sweets,
soft drinks and a lot of other junk foods and snacks.

Macronutrients - carbohydrates...breads are an example of carbs.

Role of Carbs in
TRAINING

In terms of muscle building carbohydrates play very
important role for muscle gain and energy levels. You see lifting weights takes
a lot of energy, the actual weight lifting requires energy, your metabolic rate
increases when you workout so you generally need a lot more food just not
maintain your current body and even more carbs if you want to bulk. You need to
have energy before you even start lifting so that you will be able to lift as
heavy and as effectively as you possibly can.

Eat Carbs in
Moderation

Carbohydrates like any sort of nutrient need to be consumed as
needed but like any other nutrient, over indulging has its downsides so too
does not eating enough carbs. The downside of eating too many carbs is that you
will gain a lot of fat, because the body only uses what it needs as energy and
the rest is stored in the body as fat. If you are not a very active person and
you consume a lot of carbs, lack of activity plus a slow metabolism would
result in fat gain whereas if you are very active and exercise you can afford
to use up more carbs because they are being used to fuel your activities
instead of being stored as fat.

When Is the Best Time
to Eat Carbs?

With that said the best times to eat the bulk of your carbs is straight after
you wake up for breakfast, this fuels you up after an 8 hour (or more) fast and
it gives the body ample time to use up those carbs throughout the day, the
second best time to eat carbs is before and after a workout since you will need
the energy boost and you do not want your body using protein (or your muscles)
as energy, you need that for muscle building and repair ( and you need your
current muscle and maybe want it to get bigger) . I am not saying do not eat carbs at other times, just that the majority of your carbs should be eaten earlier in the day and when you are most active. It would serve you well to eat more carbs on
workout days than on off days since you are more active on workout days so there
is a small chance of the carbohydrates you eat to be stored as fat.

I will write a post about carb cycling in the coming weeks
so keep a look out for that if you are interested in finding out what carb
cycling is and whether it would be beneficial to your muscle building and
getting shredded goals.

Just another fitness junkie on my own fitness journey trying to share my experiences and the experiences of others, in the hopes that it will help/motivate others to start their own journeys be it weight loss, general fitness or muscle gain.